Sniper DID IT AGAIN@

[Inky]

 

A dang sniper DID IT AGAIN to me by rising the price of something that I wanted to a high level.

 

I don't have tons of cash, and sometimes there ARE things on Ebay that I want / need, but ALMOST INVARIABLY a damn sniper comes and screws me over.

 

If I ever auction anything on Ebay, I'll accept no bids in the last 20 minutes, and ALWAYS have a reasonable BIN

[Nukey Shay]

Do you know what I'd like to see implemented? If ebay would keep the last hour or so RANDOM. In the last hour, it could end at any time.

 

But anyway, is there a limit on the number of proxy bids you can place near the end of the auction?

[Bratwurst]

Inky my friend, I shall divuldge the TRUE secret to successful ebaying. It is not the dilligent, methodical bidding, nor the sniping, it is in fact finding decent to low BINs moments after an auction has been listed! All of my more wicked dealings have been finding an auction fresh off the presses and snatching it before any other greedy mother*@#&*#- eh heh..

 

Unfortunately that process is a bit more time consuming and draws on a lot of luck.. unless you figure out prime listing times.

[Inky]

Do you know what I'd like to see implemented?  If ebay would keep the last hour or so RANDOM.  In the last hour, it could end at any time.

 

But anyway, is there a limit on the number of proxy bids you can place near the end of the auction?

 

I think there needs to be a series of last-hour controls available to the lister. I think that listing should be able to put "Auction ends within 2 hours of 2:00 (+ or -) to keep people on their toes.

[Cropsy]

I think there needs to be a series of last-hour controls available to the lister.  I think that listing should be able to put "Auction ends within 2 hours of 2:00 (+ or -) to keep people on their toes.

 

Only problem with that is most sellers want the maximum amount of money for the item they're listing. Keeping people of there toes would mean that some people would miss a chance to bid. Which while good if you're a bidder is bad if you're a seller.

 

If you don't have time to try the Bratwurst method sniping is probably the best way to get a decent deal on Ebay.

[glitch]

What uBid did was to extend the auction by 5 minutes from the last bid. What this did was start a lot of bidding wars right at the end of the auction since someone would come in in the last few seconds and bid, that would extend the auction by 5 minutes, the previous winner would then rebid, extending it again, and so on until no one bid for 5 minutes. It seemed to work ok, added a bit of excitement, and got the seller a bit more money. It made snipeing almost impossible.

[YOK-dfa]

This has probably been said already, but what's the point? Just bid the maximum amount you are willing to bid and let the proxy bidding do the rest. If you get out-bid at the last moment then a) Someone else is willing to pay more for the item than you. Just try again later with a different listing or b) you want to higher your bid but there's no time for that. In this case you have not bid your maximum amount in the first place.

 

I know it can be frustating to be the highest bidder for 5 days and be sniped at the last few seconds, but that's all part of the game [/img]

[Nukey Shay]

What uBid did was to extend the auction by 5 minutes from the last bid.  What this did was start a lot of bidding wars right at the end of the auction since someone would come in in the last few seconds and bid, that would extend the auction by 5 minutes, the previous winner would then rebid, extending it again, and so on until no one bid for 5 minutes.  It seemed to work ok, added a bit of excitement, and got the seller a bit more money.  It made snipeing almost impossible.

 

Excellent method! I wasn't aware of that...though I never have the dough to bid on anything anyway

 

Also agreed on the proxy method...though with all the fake bidders abound, it might make the amount drive up very quickly.

[Albert]

Sniping's all part of the game. As a seller, I certainly don't mind it since that means I'm getting more money for the items I have for sale. As a buyer, when I snipe (which is almost always), if someone outsnipes me, or someone had a higher proxy bid in place, I don't get upset, I just move on. If it's an item I really *must have*, then I'll bid the maximum amount I'm willing to pay for the item, but I'll *still* snipe for it.

 

..Al

[Nukey Shay]

You mean throw an extra few bucks in right at the end when you are still top bidder? (just to be on the safe side)

[Albert]

What uBid did was to extend the auction by 5 minutes from the last bid.  What this did was start a lot of bidding wars right at the end of the auction since someone would come in in the last few seconds and bid, that would extend the auction by 5 minutes, the previous winner would then rebid, extending it again, and so on until no one bid for 5 minutes.  It seemed to work ok, added a bit of excitement, and got the seller a bit more money.  It made snipeing almost impossible.

 

This definitely would change the bidding dynamics a bit on eBay. I'm sure they must have given this consideration by now, since this idea isn't anything new. I bet they are terrified of changing the auction process for fear of a backlash, not to mention confusion. This has the potential to bring in even more money for eBay, since they will net (in some cases) higher ending value fees. Considering they seem to enjoy tacking on fees for everything, they must have one or more good reasons why they haven't implemented a system like this yet.

 

..Al

[NE146]

This has probably been said already, but what's the point? Just bid the maximum amount you are willing to bid and let the proxy bidding do the rest. If you get out-bid at the last moment then a) Someone else is willing to pay more for the item than you. Just try again later with a different listing or b) you want to higher your bid but there's no time for that. In this case you have not bid your maximum amount in the first place.

 

Exactly. What's so hard about bidding your maximum amount? I think some people new to EBay are probably confused that if they bid $20, then the bid amount automatically goes up to $20. It doesn't work that way.

 

If an item is at $0.99 with no bids, and you bid $20. Then your bid is only $0.99! (until someone comes and raises the bar). But your bid always stays at the minimum amount up to $20. Then once it's past that point (if at all) then you weren't willing to spend more than that, so what's the difference. JUST BID YOUR MAXIMUM.

 

Put it this way... I bid $15 for an old magazine FIVE days before it ended. The bid was at $3.99 when I bid. When the auction ended, I saw someone bid on it at the last minute in an attempted snipe. He bid $4.50 then when he saw he was outbid, he bid $10. So I ended up winning the auction at $10.50 and I didn't even have to sit around and "snipe".

 

Of course that's an ideal scenario... if an item is highly coveted. Then you're better off sniping. But again, you better be prepared to snipe at your MAXIMUM

[Brad2600]

What were you bidding on?

 

I sniped a few auctions yesterday because it was the only way to get the items and that it's almost IMPOSSIBLE to bid on something at the start and expect it to hold up in the end.

 

I apologize if I sniped anyone's auction in here..for anyone who got sniped. I go by BradB002 on EBay.

[Starscream]

Me, I like sniping. If I really, really, really want something, I'll go down to the last 5 seconds before I bid. But if I kinda want it, I go with about 10-15 seconds left. On the other hand, snipers have saved me a ton of $$ these past few days

[NE146]

it's almost IMPOSSIBLE to bid on something at the start and expect it to hold up in the end.

 

Of course it's not impossible by any means, if you put enough cash up.. you'll always win.

 

For example.. on a beat up Atari 2600 joystick auction at 99 cents, if you bid $1000 as soon as it's listed. How much you wanna bet you'll win? Sure someone might attempt to snipe at the last 2 seconds with a $4.00 bid. But that just means you'll win at $4.50

 

Yeah yeah.. I KNOW no sane person is going to go bid a grand on a Atari Joystick.. so please no messages about that. It's just an illustration. But my point is.. it's not impossible. Now if you want a bargain then that's a whole other story.

[as_the_gavel_falls]

I had a long message typed but I think it had tooo much info

 

In summary: Word to the Wise: Use a snipe tool. They're cheap, they're easy. Or be sniped.

[Lemmi]

haha i got sniped by a friend with one of those snipe programs

 

i bid on a boxed 3DO flight stick and he didnt tell me before hand he was going after that item

[NE146]

You can use a snipe program all you want, and yes it works most of the time, but just know you can still lose if the other bidders maximum is higher than your attempted snipe price.

[MegaManFan]

You can use a snipe program all you want, and yes it works most of the time, but just know you can still lose if the other bidders maximum is higher than your attempted snipe price.

 

Amen to that. I got real lucky on Mean 18 - two of us sniped it with less than 10 seconds to go, but the sniper who got in after me had a lower max bid. It jumped from $33 to $34 when I sniped, then almost immediately jumped to $39 when he sniped, but since my high was $42.70 I still won.

[Albert]

Put it this way... I bid $15 for an old magazine FIVE days before it ended. The bid was at $3.99 when I bid.  When the auction ended, I saw someone bid on it at the last minute in an attempted snipe. He bid $4.50 then when he saw he was outbid, he bid $10. So I ended up winning the auction at $10.50 and I didn't even have to sit around and "snipe".

 

The reason many people snipe is to get a bargain on the item they are sniping for, as opposed to running up the bids for the auction early and then having *no chance* of getting a good deal on the item. The guy who bid $4.50 may not have expected to win the item, but if he did he would have gotten it for a good price. If someone closely follows a particular type of item and snipes on many of them, he or she is bound to get some good deals this way.

 

..Al

[NE146]

The reason many people snipe is to get a bargain on the item they are sniping for, as opposed to running up the bids for the auction early and then having *no chance* of getting a good deal on the item.  The guy who bid $4.50 may not have expected to win the item, but if he did he would have gotten it for a good price.  If someone closely follows a particular type of item and snipes on many of them, he or she is bound to get some good deals this way.  

 

And thus goes under the subject of "getting a good deal" which I also said is another story altogether. That story was just because he said it's nearly "impossible" to win by bidding early.. to which my point was, "no it's not impossible.. if you cash up of course"

 

I'll be the first to say that I never try to win an auction by cashing up.. I like everyone else, tries to win by sniping and getting a "good deal" That magazine was an item I really didn't care about that much but I thought made a good point of what I was trying to get across. i.e. I'm just throwing out those stories for illustration of the whole ebay picture

[Albert]

And thus goes under the subject of "getting a good deal" which I also said is another story altogether.  That story was just because he said it's nearly "impossible" to win by bidding early.. to which my point was, "no it's not impossible.. if you cash up of course"

 

Okay, my bad, I should have read the thread a bit more carefully before commenting.

 

..Al

[Xot]

This has probably been said already, but what's the point? Just bid the maximum amount you are willing to bid and let the proxy bidding do the rest. If you get out-bid at the last moment then a) Someone else is willing to pay more for the item than you. Just try again later with a different listing or b) you want to higher your bid but there's no time for that. In this case you have not bid your maximum amount in the first place.

 

Exactly. What's so hard about bidding your maximum amount? I think some people new to EBay are probably confused that if they bid $20, then the bid amount automatically goes up to $20. It doesn't work that way.

 

If an item is at $0.99 with no bids, and you bid $20. Then your bid is only $0.99! (until someone comes and raises the bar). But your bid always stays at the minimum amount up to $20. Then once it's past that point (if at all) then you weren't willing to spend more than that, so what's the difference. JUST BID YOUR MAXIMUM.

 

Put it this way... I bid $15 for an old magazine FIVE days before it ended. The bid was at $3.99 when I bid. When the auction ended, I saw someone bid on it at the last minute in an attempted snipe. He bid $4.50 then when he saw he was outbid, he bid $10. So I ended up winning the auction at $10.50 and I didn't even have to sit around and "snipe".

 

Of course that's an ideal scenario... if an item is highly coveted. Then you're better off sniping. But again, you better be prepared to snipe at your MAXIMUM

 

Yeah, but what happens oftentimes is my max may be $20, but someone will come along and sit there and bid $11, then $12, then $13, just driving up the price for no good reason - they were out at $12. Then they retract their $21 bid when they see it's the high bid.

 

And come on - if you don't snipe you risk losing the auction by 50 cents. Anything worth winning is worth one more dollar in the last minute - and if you don't snipe, you don't get a chance to add that extra dollar.

[NE146]

You're absolutely right. That's exactly what happens especially if it's an item that lots of people want. Look, I sure as heck never advocated anything but sniping as the "best" strategy to get something you want.. The rest of the stories I told were just trying to illustrate how the whole thing works.

 

But when I want an item..as in really want it? Heck, the only way to do it after being burned so many times in the past? You better believe it, SNIPE that biyatch!

[bloatedmonkey]

I hate when people complain about sniping. It's one of many features that have my 4-year ebay experience so enjoyable. Please don't ruin it for us!